How Grand Rapids city workers plan to harness Clearwire's new 4G wireless Internet service

Clearwire devices such as the Clear Spot 4G+ give customers access to both Clearwire's 4G service and Sprint's 3G service.

GRAND RAPIDS -- Now that the majority of the city is blanketed by Clearwire's high-speed wireless network, city officials plan to turn most of their vehicles into mobile offices that can be tracked and deployed in real time.

Notebook-sized black boxes inside each vehicle will use the 4G (fourth generation) signal to download data to a laptop computer. The boxes also will track the vehicle's location and speed.

That means firefighters racing to the scene of a fire can download floor plans of the burning building they are about to enter. Eventually, each firefighter may wear a GPS device and carry a video camera to keep commanders aware of their whereabouts on a fire scene, Fire Chief Laura Knapp said.

"I am excited to start doing some testing," Knapp said. First, she wants to be sure the city is adequately covered by the new wireless network.

The network is mostly deployed, but Clearwire is still tinkering with antennas to optimize coverage, said Sally Wesorick, the city's wireless project manager. She expects the city to be fully covered within 30 days.

City officials who want to put the device in about 300 city vehicles say there are lots of uses that will emerge as they deploy them throughout the fleet.

Building inspectors who visit a property will be able to review the city's existing records, previous inspection reports and the name of the property owners from the laptops in their cars.

"They can print the permit or the citation and give it out right at the site," Wesorick said. If there's another call in the area, the inspector can be deployed without making a trip back to the office.

Police officers will access data on vehicles, addresses or criminal backgrounds more quickly when they make a stop or respond to a call. Like firefighters, each officer could be equipped with a GPS button that tracks their location outside of the car.

The wireless connection could be fast enough to stream live video back to commanders, if necessary, said Paul Klimas, director of information technology.

Snow plows and trash collectors could be deployed more efficiently if dispatchers knew their whereabouts, he said.

In the interest of government transparency, Klimas said he envisions the city putting much of the vehicle location data on the city's website.

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The wireless network, installed by Kirtland, Wash.-based Clearwire, also can be used to keep track of pumping stations, water meters and other city operations that require monitoring.

Aside from its high speed, the new network also will carry a cost-savings to the city. Police and fire vehicles currently use 93 cards that connect to cellular phone networks. Each card costs the city about $40 a month, Wesorick said.

Clearwire will provide "WiMax" cards at no cost to the city in exchange for the tower locations the city gave Clearwire in a 2006 contract.

"We'll save money, we'll save time and we'll be more transparent," Klimas said.